"Culture is a like falling an Alka-seltzer into a glass - you don't see it, but somehow it does something,"
Hans Magnus Enzensberger.
Culture affects everything we do. This applies to all areas of human life from personal relationships to conducting business abroad. When interacting inside our native cultures, culture acts as a framework of understanding. However, when interacting with different cultures this framework no longer applies ascribable cross cultural differences.
Cross cultural communication aims to help minimise the negative impact of cross cultural differences through building common frameworks for people of different cultures to interact inside. In business, cross cultural solutions are applied in areas such as HR, team building, foreign trade, negotiations and website design.
Cross cultural communication solutions are also critical to effective cross cultural advertising. Services and products are ordinarily designed and marketed at a domestic audience. When a product is then marketed at an international audience the same domestic ad campaign abroad will in most cases be ineffective.
The essence of advertising is credible people that a product is meant for them. By buying it, they will receive some benefit, whether it be lifestyle, status, convenience or financial. However, when an ad campaign is taken abroad different values and perceptions as to what enhances status or gives convenience exist. These differences make the original ad campaign defunct.
It is therefore critical to any cross cultural ad campaign that an understanding of a particular culture is acquired. By way of highlight areas of cross cultural differences in advertising a couple of examples shall be examined.
Language in Cross Cultural Advertising
It may seem somewhat manifest to state that language is key to effective cross cultural advertising. However, the fact that companies persistently fail to check linguistic implications of company or product name calling and mottos demonstrates that such issues are not being properly addressed.
The advertising world is cluttered with examples of linguistic cross cultural blunders. Of the more clownish was Ford's introduction of the 'Pinto' in Brazil. After seeing gross sales fail, they soon accomplished that this was ascribable the fact that Brazilians did not want to be seen driving a car meaning 'tiny male genitals'.
Language must also be analysed for its cultural suitability. For example, the motto employed by the computer games manufacturer, EA Sports, "Challenge Everything" raises grumbles of disapproval in religious or stratified societies where harmonious relationships are maintained through the values of respect and non-confrontation.
It is imperative therefore that language be examined cautiously in any cross cultural ad campaign
Communication Style in Cross Cultural Advertising
Understanding the way in which other cultures communicate allows the ad campaign to speak to the potential client in a way they understand and appreciate. For example, communication styles can be explicit or implicit. An explicit communicator (e.g. USA) assumes the attender is unaware of background information or related issues to the topic of discussion and therefore provides it themselves. Implicit communicators (e.g. Japan) assume the attender is well advised on the subject and minimises information relayed on the premise that the attender will understand from implication. An explicit communicator would find an implicit communication style vague, whereas an implicit communicator would find an explicit communication style exaggerated.
Colours, Numbers and Images in Cross Cultural Advertising
Even the simplest and most taken for granted aspects of advertising need to be inspected under a cross cultural microscope. Colours, numbers, symbols and images do not all translate well crosswise cultures.
In some cultures there are lucky colours, such as red in China and unlucky colours, such as black in Japan. Some colours have certain significance; green is considered a special colour Islam and some colours have social group associations in parts of Africa.
Many hotels in the USA or UK do not have a room 13 or a 13th floor. Similarly, Nippon Airways in Japan do not have the seat numbers 4 or 9. If there are numbers with negative connotations abroad, presenting or promotion products in those numbers when advertising should be avoided.
Images are also culturally sensitive. Whereas it is common to see pictures of women in bikinis on advertising posters on the streets of London, such images would cause outrage in the Middle East.
Cultural Values in Cross Cultural Advertising
When advertising abroad, the cultural values underpinning the society must be analysed cautiously. Is there a religion that is practiced by the majority of the people? Is the society collectivist or individualist? Is it family dimensioning? Is it stratified? Is there a dominant political or economic ideology? All of these will impact an ad campaign if left unexamined.
For example, advertising that focuses on individual success, independence and stressing the word "I" would be received negatively in countries where teamwork is considered a positive quality. Rebelliousness or lack of respect for authority should always be avoided in family dimensioning or stratified societies.
By way of conclusion, we can see that the principles of advertising run through to cross cultural advertising too. That is - know your market, what is attractive to them and what their aspirations are. Cross cultural advertising is simply about exploitation horse sense and analysing how the different elements of an ad campaign are compact by culture and modifying them to best speak to the target audience.
